Fur and Feathers
by Lupine Magicians
Summary: Amaterasu is locked in battle with the serpent Orochi; no, she does not expect travelers to fall from the sky right in front of her. Now, throw in a skeptical prophet, a new ink-brush power, and a few traveler's charms. Watch the fur and feathers fly!
1. Chapter 1

**PLEASE READ BEFORE CONTINUING:**

**If you haven't played Okami, I strongly suggest you do. It's a great game – probably the best! Also, you may understand the story better - but it isn't required. However, here's a few notes for you non-players.**

**Amaterasu is the sun goddess and reincarnation of the legendary wolf Shiranui. To ordinary people, she looks like your average white wolf, but to others she appears to have crimson markings and a fiery reflector on her back, Divine Retribution. Her other weapons include Tsugamari, the blade that was wielded by the ancient hero Nagi and destroyed Orochi (an eight-headed serpent); Snarling Beast, a golden reflector; the Devout beads (which act as a whip); and others. Amaterasu also masters the thirteen ink-brush powers throughout the game given to her by the other gods.**

**Issun the Traveling Artist is a green, glowing sprite – more specifically, a Poncle. He travels with Amaterasu (or as he calls her, Ammy) to master the thirteen ink-brush techniques. He nurses a deep hatred for the prophet Waka. I won't tell you why. I'll spoil the game. =)**

**Waka appears throughout the game to tell you a short fortune or prophecy. Apparently he knows Amaterasu, and wants to help her, for unclear reasons. He's over 200 years old, and his true identity is unknown. The flute he carries around is able to change into his trusty sword Pillowtalk. He challenges Amaterasu to a battle several times throughout the game.**

**Orochi is an eight-headed serpent demon. He chooses a maiden every year, on the night of the full moon, to sacrifice and devour. Each of the heads controls an element: fire, water, lightning, wind, light, dark, poison, and earth. The demon is rumored to be the killer of Shiranui. Midway through the game, Amaterasu is forced to challenge him to save the maiden (and sake-brewer) Kushi, and wins. Later, she travels back in time to assist her former self against the demon at full-strength. Shiranui, however, still dies while saving the "hero" Nagi from a falling boulder. The wolf was weakened by another battle against the twin owl demons, valiantly saving the half human, half beast Oki. **

**For those of you who haven't read Tsubasa:**

**Sakura is a princess who loses her memories in an accident at the Ruins of Clow. Her friend Syaoran travels through dimensions, collecting her memories, which are in the form of feathers. He travels with Sakura, the ninja warrior Kurogane, the odd creature Mokona and, my personal favorite, the magician Fai D. Fluorite (Flowright in the anime).**

**Read on! This is my first fanfic, so don't expect too much, but I tried hard and I hope you like it! =) **

"Look out, Ammy!" Issun shouted, just as one of Orochi's serpentine heads crashed beside the white wolf. Amaterasu spun around, snarling, her ink-brush tail making quick work of the demon's head - a vertical slash of ink slicing it clean off. Seven other heads reared up and dove for Amaterasu, and the wolf god barely managed to evade the attack. Her white paws skidded on a puddle of 8 Purification Sake, but she regained her balance just long enough to dodge a blast of flame that shot past her ear.

Issun hopped up and down in rage at the 8-headed serpent. "Come on, Ammy! That little snake is no match for your Celestial brush!"

A line of ink from a nearby torch to one of the heads sent flames darting up Orochi's body. Smoke engulfed the serpent's form, and the beast roared. One of the terrifying heads erupted from the smoke and clamped its jaws down on Amaterasu's right leg.

The wolf roared in surprise as she was hauled upwards.

Suddenly, the Divine Retribution on her back was in her jaws, a fiery reflector, crashing down on one of the serpent's heads. The serpent's jaws opened to release her, eyes white with surprise. As Amaterasu's paws lightly landed, the head smashed to the ground beside her. The jaws were agape, and the eyes were glazed over.

Six to go.

"Whoo! Go, Ammy!" Issun cheered, bouncing on the wolf god's head with delight. Amaterasu's ears flicked irritably, as she tuned to snarl at another approaching head.

The creature had no time to reach her, as the sky abruptly turned from black and crimson, to…

Silver?

"Ah!" Syaoran cried in surprise as he felt himself hurtling through the air. Where was Sakura?  
He attempted to turn his head, searching desperately for the princess. He had no time. The ground suddenly came up below him, and Syaoran felt his body smash into the turf. He lay still for a moment in surprise. Luckily the ink-covered grass was soft enough to cushion his fall.

Around him, he heard three similar thumps against the earth as his traveling companions also landed.

Syaoran pushed himself upright. What was this place? Roars shattered the air, thick with smoke, and the sky was black. It seemed torn in places where ruby-red clouds slashed through.

Syaoran didn't have very long to think. A white figure darted over his body, giving a terrible snarl. Another beast exploded from the fog, an enormous black serpent head, jaws gaping open. Syaoran instinctively recoiled as the creature screamed in fury, rapidly drawing closer.

The white canine had four paws planted protectively around Syaoran, prepared to bear the brunt of the attack.

The serpent charged forward, but the wolf did not move. As its jaws clamped downwards, Syaoran closed his eyes in fear and alarm – the wolf was suddenly gone.

Syaoran tentatively opened his eyes.

Amaterasu's trap had worked perfectly. Her white form clung to Orochi's throat, claws digging into the serpentine flesh, the divine instrument Tsugamari in her fangs. The glaive had destroyed the eight-headed serpent originally, and was rapidly becoming liable to repeat the act. The sword was beginning to glow a bright shade of cobalt-blue; to a point that the light almost became unbearable. Syaoran's eyes were shut tight again. Still, the light flooded past his eyelids.

Syaoran didn't see what the wolf god did next, but he certainly heard it. There was a slashing sound, and the hiss and splatter of blood flooded into his mind. The blue light he saw through his closed mind became a rich scarlet - and he heard Sakura give a cry.

Sakura!

Oblivious to the danger around him, Syaoran leapt to his feet and ran towards the noise, his feet sliding on the blood-slick ground. He lunged for the princess, skidding to the floor and wrapping his arms securely around her. Around them, the roars of battle still continued, although several more of the serpent's heads lay decapitated in pools of blood and 8 Purification Sake.

Amaterasu snarled ferociously at the three remaining heads – poison, lightning, and water. The wolf knew each of the head's weaknesses, having fought the beast several times before. Lightning became enraged at losing sight of its opponent, poison would become riled at the touch of wind, and water would roar when attacked while submerged in water.

"Purification Sake, Ammy!" Issun howled. The sprite leapt up and down in agitation. Already, a fountain sent sake from the pools on the ground gushing into poison's mouth. The beast had unwittingly roared at a strong gust of divine wind. At the taste of the pure golden sake, the poison head swayed. Its eyes grew blank and dreamy, before it crashed to the ground with a loud thump. The drunken form lay limp and motionless.

Before Amaterasu could reach the head to finish it, a shape came hurtling out of nowhere and cut her off.

A gleaming katana tore through the air and hit Orochi's flesh with a hissing sound. The blade ripped effortlessly through scales, bone and gristle, to come out shining with slick crimson. Poison's dreamy gaze became a blank stare. Blood flooded into the pool of sake below, and a figure stepped out of the smoke that still wafted over the 8-headed snake.

"A demon? Such a weak thing shouldn't try to kill." A man with spiky black hair glared down at the head. His long-sword hung from one hand, the tip of the blade resting against the ground. Another figure sauntered up gracefully behind him, clapping his hands in delight.

"Wheet-woo!" Wow, Kuro-tan, you're so good at that!" The other man was blonde and thin, his electric-blue eye gazing at poison's dead head with fascination rather than disgust. "A demon, you say?"

A bone-shattering roar knocked away the blonde's words. The lightning and water heads lowered to the ground, roaring at the new arrivals.

And then Orochi spoke.

"How dare you infiltrate my lair?" The snake hissed; its voice rough and gravelly, as though dragged over stones. "You shall pay – you and the malevolent Amaterasu!"

"What about me!" Issun howled in rage. "I'm – Whoa!"

Amaterasu reared up on her hind legs and snarled at Orochi's two remaining heads. Lightning dove for her, but the wolf dodged and leapt lightly upwards, twisting in midair to get a lock on its neck. Her steel-trap jaws clamped down, and lightning's head coiled and bent in an attempt to reach the wolf god with its needle-sharp teeth.

"Ammy! Tsugamari!" Issun yelped.

The wolf was already one step ahead of him. The light, stout blade sunk into lightning's neck, blood gushing over Amaterasu's snow-white paws. Water dove for her, and the wolf barely had time to leap away, pulling Tsugamari away with her.

Lightning crashed to the ground.

The water head let out a horrible roar. Suddenly, a fountain erupted from the ground. Water flooded everywhere, and Orochi's remaining head dove under, pleased. Syaoran, Sakura, Kurogane and Fai found themselves treading water.

Fai had grown up in a climate where lakes were pure ice, but he was still decent at swimming. After all, he'd sealed King Ashura underwater.

Unfortunately, that didn't mean he was excellent at it. He found himself searching for a handhold despite himself. His fingers closed down on a slippery, thin surface.

A lilypad?

He grabbed it with both hands and stared upwards. There was a wolf standing there.

It was the first time he'd received a good look at her.

She had snow-white fur, so pure and elegant that it seemed to glow. Crimson markings were striped across her eyes, forehead and back. A sword was clamped in her jaws, stout but beautifully crafted. Her divine beauty enraptured Fai. The magician found himself gaping at her, oblivious to the strands of his wet hair that hung determinedly over his eyes.

Amaterasu leapt forward. Water was completely submerged, and now was her chance.

There was a sickening crunch as Tsugamari was driven down into the water head's skull. It erupted from the water, screaming its last death cries. Droplets of blood fell into the lake.

Orochi's last head fell limply under as well, sinking into the depths to join the rest of its deceased body.

**Hope you liked it! I'll try and post the next chapter soon. =) **

**Please review! Review and, er… You get a cookie!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second chapter! Hope you guys like! Please read and review. =)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa or Okami. It would be awesome if I did…but no. **

As the water slowly drained from Orochi's lair, Amaterasu stared at the travelers.

An amber-eyed boy wearing a traveler's cloak had his arms wrapped around girl roughly about his age. Her startled eyes were jade-green, and long locks of auburn hair hung down over them. Her clothing must have been made by an expert – Amaterasu had never seen something so fine.

The man who had destroyed one of Orochi's heads was the tallest of the group. His black hair was spiky; his narrow eyes a dark crimson in color. One of his strong hands clutched a long-sword. It was still dripping with Orochi's blood.

Beside him, was the last traveler, the second-tallest, was thin and blonde. A fluffy white cloak hung sopping wet from his shoulders, and he peeled it off with a sigh. "Why does water have to be so…so _wet_?"

"Er, who are you?" Issun said, sitting on Amaterasu's head, right between her eyes. All of the travelers' attentions were suddenly drawn to the wolf.

"That mutt can talk?" The red-eyed man said.

"Ammy's not a mutt!" Issun cried indignantly. "She's a wolf! And I'm Issun, the Wandering Artist!"

"She doesn't look like any wolf I've ever seen," the blonde man mused. "If you ask me, she looks like one of Sakura's feathers." He glanced at the girl, still clutched in the boy's arms. "Red and white, hmm?"

"What are you talking about? It looks plain white to me," said the red-eyed man.

"It!" Issun cried. "Why, I never heard such- Wait, can you see Ammy's true form?" The sprite suddenly looked interested.

The blonde shrugged and grinned slightly. "I just see a red and white wolf with a giant…flamey…_thing _on her back." He flapped his hand in the Divine Retribution's general direction. "By the way, my name's Fai. The kid's Syaoran-"he gestured to the amber-eyed boy, "That there's Sakura, and – he's Kuro-tan!" The blonde swept his hand towards Kurogane, grinning gaily, while the red-eyed man roared in protest.

"My name's Kurogane, idiot mage!" he shouted. "Get it right for once!" Fai laughed and dodged a swipe from the samurai's sword.  
"What's a mage?" Issun asked curiously. "Well, I suppose that doesn't matter. This here's Amaterasu, by the way." The sprite patted the wolf's head, winning him an annoyed growl. "We should probably get it of here. If it's anything like last time Orochi\ was killed-"

As if on cue, the entire cavern shuddered. Several rocks fell and crashed to the ground - Amaterasu stepped back just in time to avoid a particularly large one. She growled and darted towards the cavern's entrance, weaving through a barrage of falling rocks. Suddenly she paused and turned back to the group, gesturing with her nose.

"I can take a hint," Kurogane growled, sheathing his sword and running after the wolf, followed by Syaoran and a still-dazed Sakura. Fai went last, sparing one last glance at Orochi's eight bloody heads. He suddenly leaned down and reached into fire's mouth with a grimace. After a moment, his hand came out, clutching a bloody, curved fang.

Fai stood and sprinted after the rest of the group.

XxX

Amaterasu sat on a rock, tail curled around her paws, watching the moon cave crumble. The travelers were sitting around her. Kurogane was the only one not watching the cave fall. He was rubbing his sword repeatedly against the grass; his face becoming more annoyed by the second.

"What sort of blood is it?" he roared at last. "It's not coming off!"  
"Kuro-puppy's just not strong enough," Fai sang. Kurogane glared at him.

"Give me your cloak, maybe that'll be easier…"  
"No, Kuro-rin! That's mean!"

"It's too hot here anyway, mage, you won't need it!"  
"Kuro! No!"

Suddenly, a white thing shot out of the hood to Fai's cloak. "Kuro-daddy just isn't any good at housework!"  
Kurogane paused in mid-lunge at Fai, his mouth agape.

"Well said, Mokona," Fai praised, grinning at the odd white creature. It looked something along the lines of a rabbit, but had a single red jewel in its forehead, and a similar jewel hanging from its right ear.

"What is that?" Issun asked, his voice a mixture of astonishment and curiosity.

"Mokona is Mokona!" The creature said in a sing-song voice. It hopped onto the rock where Amaterasu was sitting, ears perked up. "Are you a god?"  
Kurogane almost fell over. Fai didn't look surprised. Sakura looked amazed, and Syaoran looked utterly fascinated.

"Yeah, she is," said Issun, surprised. "How'd you know?"  
"Mokona sensed it!" The creature said, jumping up and down with pleasure.

"A god?" Syaoran looked interested, his eyes fixed on Amaterasu. "Really?"  
"They don't believe you, Ammy, show them!" Issun said. "Use one of your ink-brush techniques!"

The wolf hadn't moved since she had begun to watch the moon cave fall, but now she sprung to life. With a movement of her tail, so quick that it was impossible to see exactly, an orb of fire leapt into the air from nothing, as though conjured, and blazed brightly.

Syaoran and Sakura gasped, their eyes washed golden from the light.

"Did you say ink-brush powers, Issun?" Fai asked. "Is that how she does it? She uses her tail to…" He waved a hand limply in the air.

Before Issun could open his mouth to reply, Amaterasu leapt over to the magician. She wiped her tail against the ground, the tip dripping with black ink. When she moved to sit slightly further away, a symbol was inscribed against the ground.

"What's that?" Syaoran asked, leaning closer.

"That," said Issun, "Is one of the thirteen ink-brush powers. And that, along with the other techniques, possibly just saved all of Nippon."

XxX

**So dramatic! You guys have any ideas why Fai took the fang? I'm not telling. =P **

**Well, maybe I will if you review. =)**


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